Author: Damon Martin

Rashad Evans: Mousasi vs. Latifi Has “Recipe for Disaster Written All over It”

When UFC president Dana White announced that relatively unknown Swedish fighter Ilir Latifi was stepping into the main event at UFC on Fuel 9 to face former Strikeforce champion Gegard Mousasi, a general groan echoed throughout the MMA community. Inste…

When UFC president Dana White announced that relatively unknown Swedish fighter Ilir Latifi was stepping into the main event at UFC on Fuel 9 to face former Strikeforce champion Gegard Mousasi, a general groan echoed throughout the MMA community.

Instead of watching Mousasi battle another top-10 fighter in Alexander Gustafsson, fans are now about to be treated to one of the best 205-pound fighters on the planet facing off with someone most people had never heard about until White tweeted his name earlier this week.

One person who was very familiar with Latifi was his former training partner Rashad Evans, who first worked with the Swedish-born fighter with his team, the Blackzilians, a couple of years ago. Evans sparred and worked with Latifi a lot in those early days, and says that while he’s a newcomer to the UFC, he’s no walkover inside the cage.

“One of the biggest things is that he’s super strong. He’s very strong and very explosive and he’s a good wrestler,” Evans said when speaking to Bleacher Report. “He has pretty good stand-up as far as he hits pretty hard, and so he’s not so technical in the striking, but he’s a powerful striker.”

While he did train with Latifi, Evans won’t push his former teammate just for the sake of selling a fight this weekend. He says there’s nothing easy for any fighter to take a matchup on three days notice, much less one against a top-10 light heavyweight like Mousasi.

“It’s very tough because it takes your body some time to actually peak to get ready to compete. Especially the way we compete and the level we compete at it’s not something you take on short notice if you’ve got an opportunity to,” said Evans. “So for him stepping in on three days notice, it’s definitely tough. He has a huge upside and the upside definitely outweighs the downside.”

The upside is that Latifi has the chance to write his own ticket in this fight. No one is expecting him to win, and if he goes down to Mousasi, that’s what is supposed to happen.

On the flipside, however, if Latifi can shock the world and pull off an upset or even drag Mousasi into deep waters and put on a three-round classic in the main event, his stock immediately rises while his opponent’s drops like a stone.

Mousasi went from fighting a competitor on the cusp of a title shot in Gustafsson to a complete unknown in Latifi. Anything short of a first-round knockout will almost certainly come back to bite Mousasi after the fight is over.

“That really is the biggest thing of this whole fight is this whole story. Here you’ve got this guy Gegard trying to make his debut in the UFC, and he’s been having so much steam coming over from the other organization and then to have a chance to fight a top guy like (Alexander) Gustafsson and then having to fight somebody completely different,” said Evans. “Completely different strengths all together. Not only that but (Latifi) is 5’8″ and he’s got totally different strengths. He’s a wrestler, he’s going to try to take you down and he’s tough. He’s a tough unknown guy.

“Now if he goes out there and has a hard fight with a tough, unknown guy now it looks like he’s not on the level, he shouldn’t really be in the UFC anyways. He’s in a no-win situation. The only thing that can save this for him is to have a complete, dominating performance the whole fight. He’s in a tough position, I don’t envy Mousasi at all.”

Evans isn’t picking a winner in the fight, but he’s seen these types of situations happen before. One of his best friends has been involved in two of these fights, as a matter of fact. 

Former UFC contender Keith Jardine was a rising star fresh off a win over former Ultimate Fighter season 1 winner Forrest Griffin when he faced an unknown fighter named Houston Alexander at UFC 71. The fight lasted 48 seconds and ended with Jardine lying in a heap against the cage, a victim of a first-round knockout.

Jardine also saw the other side of this coin when he stepped up on just a few days notice to—ironically enough—face Mousasi while the fighters were in Strikeforce. It was supposed to be a one-sided beating with Mousasi crushing the former UFC fighter, but instead the two engaged in a war of attrition that ended in a majority draw.

Evans knows that Mousasi is in an impossibly tough spot now against Latifi, just like he was against Jardine, and as the old saying goes, “those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it.”

“It has the biggest recipe for disaster written all over it,” said Evans. “At the same time, you’ve got to take your hat off to Mousasi who says ‘I’m going to fight this guy, I’m going to keep this show going and I’m going to fight this guy.’  It’s a big huge risk to fight a tough, unknown kid like Latifi. I’m telling you this kid is tough.”

Damon Martin is a Featured Columnist for Bleacher Report and all quotes were obtained first hand unless otherwise noted.

Read more MMA news on BleacherReport.com

Cris Cyborg Ready to Reclaim the Iron Throne as the Top Women’s Fighter in MMA

It’s been well over a year since Cris “Cyborg” Santos last stepped into a cage for an actual MMA fight. The last 15-plus months were filled with interviews about her suspension from the sport for using a banned substance, a heated rivalry with Ronda Ro…

It’s been well over a year since Cris “Cyborg” Santos last stepped into a cage for an actual MMA fight.

The last 15-plus months were filled with interviews about her suspension from the sport for using a banned substance, a heated rivalry with Ronda Rousey, exiting both Strikeforce and the UFC and finally signing a multi-fight deal with Invicta FC.

Santos has been doing a lot of talking, but her passion was always to get back in the cage and back up her words with her fists.  It wasn’t long ago that she was the top-ranked woman in MMA—an absolute wrecking machine that mauled opponent after opponent.

Lately, however, instead of being called the best women’s fighter on the planet, Santos is better known as a rival to Rousey in a fight that still may never happen.  Like she was gunning for the iron throne in Westeros, Santos is hell-bent on reclaiming her spot as the most feared woman in MMA.

Cyborg is the same assassin she’s always been—now it’s just time to remind everybody what she’s capable of doing to her opposition.

“I don’t think I need to prove anything but I think I need to do the same as I did in the other fights.  I want to do the best fight and try to go for the knockout all the time,” Santos told Bleacher Report.  “Be aggressive as my other fights.  I think people know my training, and they know what I did already.  Win or lose, I always try to do my best.”

During her time away from active competition, Santos signed on with former UFC light heavyweight champion Tito Ortiz as her new management.  Since then, Ortiz has gone on a tireless campaign to push Santos back into the spotlight and even trained with her as she prepared for her return to action.

“She is Wanderlei Silva in her prime,” said Ortiz.  “She doesn’t mind getting punched, she likes the takedowns, she likes to spar, she likes to train, she’s the world champion.  To be 10-1 and stop people, dominate people, her career speaks for itself.”

If one black mark continues to haunt her, it’s the suspension she faced for using a banned substance, which earned her a year away from the sport.  She continues to be accused of cheating, but Ortiz says it was a mistake that she’s owned up to and won’t make again.

“People judge by one little mistake that she did because she tried to make weight easier, and you can’t judge a book by its cover by her last fight,” stated Ortiz.  “People say you’re only as good as you’re last fight, well she knocked out her last opponent, and for the substance that was illegal at the time that she took, it was strictly taken to cut the weight.  No more than that.”

The best way to move past a bad situation is to get back in the cage and dominate an opponent with the same method of destruction as she did before, and Cyborg is more than confident she can do that. 

With a win in her Invicta FC debut on Friday night, she will then move into a rematch with former Strikeforce champion Marloes Coenen for the first-ever 145-pound title for the promotion.  Santos already has a win over Coenen, but after a year away from doing what she loved, everything is new again.

“Everything that’s coming now is new,” said Santos.  “I think (Marloes Coenen) is better now, and if I need to fight her, I will fight her.  I never choose opponents and I will be ready for this fight.”

Damon Martin is a Featured Columnist for Bleacher Report, and all quotes were obtained firsthand unless otherwise noted.

Read more MMA news on BleacherReport.com

Cris Cyborg Ready to Reclaim the Iron Throne as the Top Women’s Fighter in MMA

It’s been well over a year since Cris “Cyborg” Santos last stepped into a cage for an actual MMA fight. The last 15-plus months were filled with interviews about her suspension from the sport for using a banned substance, a heated rivalry with Ronda Ro…

It’s been well over a year since Cris “Cyborg” Santos last stepped into a cage for an actual MMA fight.

The last 15-plus months were filled with interviews about her suspension from the sport for using a banned substance, a heated rivalry with Ronda Rousey, exiting both Strikeforce and the UFC and finally signing a multi-fight deal with Invicta FC.

Santos has been doing a lot of talking, but her passion was always to get back in the cage and back up her words with her fists.  It wasn’t long ago that she was the top-ranked woman in MMA—an absolute wrecking machine that mauled opponent after opponent.

Lately, however, instead of being called the best women’s fighter on the planet, Santos is better known as a rival to Rousey in a fight that still may never happen.  Like she was gunning for the iron throne in Westeros, Santos is hell-bent on reclaiming her spot as the most feared woman in MMA.

Cyborg is the same assassin she’s always been—now it’s just time to remind everybody what she’s capable of doing to her opposition.

“I don’t think I need to prove anything but I think I need to do the same as I did in the other fights.  I want to do the best fight and try to go for the knockout all the time,” Santos told Bleacher Report.  “Be aggressive as my other fights.  I think people know my training, and they know what I did already.  Win or lose, I always try to do my best.”

During her time away from active competition, Santos signed on with former UFC light heavyweight champion Tito Ortiz as her new management.  Since then, Ortiz has gone on a tireless campaign to push Santos back into the spotlight and even trained with her as she prepared for her return to action.

“She is Wanderlei Silva in her prime,” said Ortiz.  “She doesn’t mind getting punched, she likes the takedowns, she likes to spar, she likes to train, she’s the world champion.  To be 10-1 and stop people, dominate people, her career speaks for itself.”

If one black mark continues to haunt her, it’s the suspension she faced for using a banned substance, which earned her a year away from the sport.  She continues to be accused of cheating, but Ortiz says it was a mistake that she’s owned up to and won’t make again.

“People judge by one little mistake that she did because she tried to make weight easier, and you can’t judge a book by its cover by her last fight,” stated Ortiz.  “People say you’re only as good as you’re last fight, well she knocked out her last opponent, and for the substance that was illegal at the time that she took, it was strictly taken to cut the weight.  No more than that.”

The best way to move past a bad situation is to get back in the cage and dominate an opponent with the same method of destruction as she did before, and Cyborg is more than confident she can do that. 

With a win in her Invicta FC debut on Friday night, she will then move into a rematch with former Strikeforce champion Marloes Coenen for the first-ever 145-pound title for the promotion.  Santos already has a win over Coenen, but after a year away from doing what she loved, everything is new again.

“Everything that’s coming now is new,” said Santos.  “I think (Marloes Coenen) is better now, and if I need to fight her, I will fight her.  I never choose opponents and I will be ready for this fight.”

Damon Martin is a Featured Columnist for Bleacher Report, and all quotes were obtained firsthand unless otherwise noted.

Read more MMA news on BleacherReport.com

Melvin Guillard Breaks His Silence on the Blackzilians, Jackson’s MMA and More

It all started with a message on Twitter less than a week ago. Melvin Guillard declared that he was leaving his camp at the Blackzilians and rejoining his old teammates at Jackson’s MMA in New Mexico.  It seemed simple enough at the time, but 24 h…

It all started with a message on Twitter less than a week ago.

Melvin Guillard declared that he was leaving his camp at the Blackzilians and rejoining his old teammates at Jackson’s MMA in New Mexico.  It seemed simple enough at the time, but 24 hours later things became much more difficult.

Before Guillard could even pack his bags and head to the airport, he started seeing messages on Twitter that he was not going to be welcome back at Jackson’s MMA, and he would have to find a new team.

Guillard explained when speaking to Bleacher Report on Thursday that the team at Jackson’s MMA took a vote and ultimately decided against his return.

“I guess what happened was everybody read the tweet saying I was going back, and there were other things that happened.  Some of the guys voted whether or not I was going to be able to go back or not, and some of the team was okay for it; some of the team wasn’t.  Coach Greg calls me up and tells me ‘Melvin, some of the guys are for it, some aren’t, so for right now my answer would have to be no.  Maybe if some of the guys over time have a change of heart or whatever then it can be yes at some point, but just not right now,'” Guillard explained.   I still have the invitation, it’s still a possibility I can go, but at this point in my career I just turned 30 years old; I’m beginning that journey down the hill. 

“I’m on the down slope of my career, and right now it’s about getting as many wins as I can, and being able to even fight for a UFC lightweight title.”

At first the news about being denied a return to Jackson’s camp came as a shock, and after shock came some anger from Guillard, who couldn’t understand why his former teammates would opt against him coming back there again.  It took some wise words from his wife to make him understand just how the team at his former gym probably felt when he left to go train with the Blackzilians in Florida right in the midst of a war between two of the team’s top fighters.

“There’s no hard feelings. It is what it is,” Guillard stated.   “When you really look at the situation, I left Jackson’s at a critical time.  I left when Rashad (Evans) and Jon (Jones) was going through their little beef, and I took myself out of the equation and my wife made me look at it like this—take yourself out of the situation and look at someone else.  ‘If someone else had left the team and went to an opposing team and then tried to go back to that team, how would you feel about that?’ I said, ‘yeah you’ve got a good point.’  That’s kind of how it looked.  Even though it wasn’t like that, that’s what it looked like to them.”

Guillard holds no ill will towards the team at Jackson’s the same way he has nothing against his former team at the Blackzilians.  While Guillard admits the move to Florida was great for his home life, it didn’t do as much as he hoped for his professional career.

During his time with the team, Guillard went 1-4 overall and to hear him explain it, he just never felt like he quite fit in with the coaches and other fighters there.  Last week he knew it was time to move on.

“It was just me as a person, on a chemistry side I just didn’t fit,” Guillard said.   “I just felt like it was time to go.  I’ve got to go somewhere where I can get back to winning fights.  Right now my job is probably on the line and my upcoming fight is a must-win fight.  I feel like I need to do good work to get that win. That’s why my decision was made.

“I love Florida and I don’t think I’ll ever leave Florida, but that said, I was kind of like a loner.  I was an outsider.  I was there when it was time to train, but I just didn’t think it was fair to the other guys that were there.  I think that was a reason why I had to leave as well—because it wasn’t being fair to the other guys on the team.”

When he first decided to leave the Blackzilians, Guillard admits he thought about joining American Top Team, another huge camp in Florida but because of a past strained relationship between that team and his manager Glenn Robinson, he didn’t want to “put gasoline on the fire”.  For a few days, Guillard was a fighter without a home, but all it took was a call from a close friend and old mentor to set things back on track.

“Pat Barry called me when the tweets started going around that I got denied at Jackson’s.  Pat Barry calls me and goes ‘I want you to call Coach Leister (Bowling), he’s the wrestling coach out there at MusclePharm, and he works with a lot of great guys,'” said Guillard.   “Me and Pat go way back since New Orleans, fighting when I was 16 years old.  Pat’s been like my big brother my whole career. 

“When he reached out to me it was kind of cool.  It was like a big brother saying it’s time to get your butt back home and come train with me and that’s kind of how I took it.”

Leister Bowling is the head wrestling coach at the Grudge Training Center, where he works with several top UFC fighters including Shane Carwin and Brendan Schaub, and the head coach there is striking guru Trevor Wittman.  Guillard and Wittman actually crossed paths before and even worked together briefly when he was preparing for his bout in Denver against Donald “Cowboy” Cerrone at UFC 150.

Quickly Guillard packed up a few things, boarded a plane to Colorado and sat down with Wittman to plot a course for his training camp and begin work on rebuilding “The Young Assassin.”

“Coach Trevor welcomed me with open arms,” said Guillard.   “We put everything out on the table up front, we discussed what we needed to discuss and now we’re on the same page. It works.”

At home in Florida, Guillard was greeted everyday by his wife and he was able to relax on his couch and play video games on his giant screen television.  Now he’s literally living in the basement at the gym and the only thing he does is eat, sleep and train.

Guillard is looking to redeem himself on July 27 when he meets Mac Danzig at UFC on Fox 8, and between now and then the only thing on his mind is getting back to the place that saw him only one fight away from a UFC lightweight title shot less than two years ago.

“It’s like watching that Rocky III movie,” said Guillard.   “It’s like where you lose that hunger and you’ve got to go back to where you started and go back to the gutter and get hungry again.  That’s kind of how I feel sleeping in this basement.  I need this basement, I’m going to stay down here in this basement.  Right now I’m loving my little basement cot.”

Damon Martin is a Featured Columnist for Bleacher Report and all quotes were obtained first hand unless otherwise noted.

Read more MMA news on BleacherReport.com

Alexis Davis vs. Rosi Sexton Scheduled for UFC 161 in Winnipeg

As the UFC starts to introduce more and more women’s bouts the organization, one of the top-rated fighters in the promotion will finally make her debut at UFC 161 in June. A winner of two fights in a row and a 5-1 record in her last six fights, Alexis …

As the UFC starts to introduce more and more women’s bouts the organization, one of the top-rated fighters in the promotion will finally make her debut at UFC 161 in June.

A winner of two fights in a row and a 5-1 record in her last six fights, Alexis Davis is finally set to make her Octagon debut when she faces British fighter Rosi Sexton at UFC 161 in Winnipeg on June 15.

UFC officials announced the fight via Twitter on Thursday.

Coming into the UFC, Davis is already one of the most highly-touted prospects gunning for a shot at the bantamweight women’s title and champion Ronda Rousey.

Davis holds wins over several notable names including Shayna Baszler and Julie Kedzie, and also ended up in an absolute war with former Strikeforce women’s champion Sarah Kaufman in their bout in March 2012.

Now, the Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu black belt will look to make a good first impression as she fights in her home country of Canada while storming towards the top of the women’s bantamweight rankings.

Looking to derail that mission will be 13-2 fighter Rosi Sexton, who like Davis, will of course be making her UFC debut in June.

Sexton is a seasoned competitor having started her career all the way back in 2002, and has taken on some very tough challenges over her career.  With a background in both Tae Kwon Do and Jiu-Jitsu, Sexton boasts wins over Debi Purcell, Roxanne Modafferi and most recently, a victory over Aisling Daly.

Davis and Sexton will both look to make a big impact on day one in the UFC while working towards title contention.  The UFC women’s bantamweight title will be tied up for some time while the current champion Rousey awaits the winner of the upcoming fight at the Ultimate Fighter 17 finale between Miesha Tate and Cat Zingano.

Before they fight however, Rousey will coach against either Tate or Zingano in the next season of the Ultimate Fighter that’s expected to film this summer and debut later this year. 

It’s likely whoever wins between Davis and Sexton will still have to fight again before a title shot could happen, but only the victor will continue on that road towards championship glory.

Damon Martin is a Featured Columnist for Bleacher Report

Read more MMA news on BleacherReport.com

Rick Hawn Beat Karo Parisyan in Judo and Plans Do to the Same at Bellator 95

The history between Bellator 95 fighters Rick Hawn and Karo Parisyan goes back more than a decade when they were both Judo practitioners looking to make their Olympic dream a reality. Their careers splintered into two very different directions after th…

The history between Bellator 95 fighters Rick Hawn and Karo Parisyan goes back more than a decade when they were both Judo practitioners looking to make their Olympic dream a reality.

Their careers splintered into two very different directions after that time however as Hawn remained focused on Judo all the way until 2008, while Parisyan opted for a career in mixed martial arts that saw him fighting much more experience competitors when he was only 17-years old.

Hawn eventually made his way to MMA as well, and now, years later he meets Parisyan in the cage as opposed to the mats where they first met all those many years ago.

“We were in the same weight class actually in the 90’s, early 2000’s, but we fought at the same weight class 178-pounds.  We fought a couple times, I won both those fights way back when,” Hawn told Bleacher Report about his history with Parisyan.  “So he was definitely someone I knew of and maybe left judo early to pursue MMA.  It was a person that was just another rival, another competitor I guess.”

To look at their records, the assumption would be that Parisyan is the older, grizzled veteran going into his fight with Hawn on Thursday night, but the one-time UFC welterweight contender is only 30-years old while his opponent will celebrate his 37th birthday later this year.

15 years of fighting MMA has put a ton of wear and tear on Parisyan however, and despite the fact that he’s the younger of the two former Judo stars, he’s seen plenty of ups and downs since his first professional bout in 1999.

During those years and fights, Parisyan has often been accused of not taking his training seriously and dedicating the work necessary to match the incredible skill he seemed to possess whenever he stepped foot in a cage. Parisyan has also struggled mightily with panic attacks that have literally crippled him before fighting, and it’s an ongoing battle he continues to fight today.

Hawn‘s heard all the stories about Parisyan and his mental preparedness going into fights, and he believes that’s one area that he trumps his former judo mate in a big way and it will show on Thursday night.

“It does come down to mental preparation.  I’ve been a professional for many, many years and I know how to prepare. I’ve trained with the best fighters, the best judo guys, I know what it takes to be the best,” said Hawn.   “I know how to do that. I do that same thing for MMA.  I prepare mentally and physically the best way I can. I’ve never really seen that from his side, even when he was on back in the day.  He did well, but I think mentally I have a huge up on him.”

Hawn has watched plenty of tape on Parisyan ahead of their fight this week.  He studied the fights where Parisyan was on a short list of the best welterweights in the world, but Hawn has also watched plenty of fights that he’s had recently as well. 

Over his last seven fights, Parisyan has gone 3-4 with sporadic performances happening over the last three years. When on his game, Parisyan can still be one of the most dangerous fighters at 170 pounds, but it’s a mystery when that version will show up. Hawn isn’t sure that version of Parisyan will ever appear again, but he plans on testing the waters on Thursday night.

“He’s not the same fighter he was back in the early days in the UFC.  He may never be that same fighter again,” Hawn said about Parisyan.   “I don’t think he’s back to that point now.  I’ve watched the videos of the last year or so, and I’ve broken it down a little bit and kind of picked him apart and see what I can exploit.”

Damon Martin is a Featured Columnist for Bleacher Report and all quotes were obtained first hand unless otherwise noted.

Read more MMA news on BleacherReport.com